Woman discovers maggots in ear after trip of a lifetime

ROCHELLE Harris was thrilled to be visiting Peru. Little did she realise just how horribly her dream trip would turn out.

At one point during her holiday Harris walked through a swarm of flies. One went in her ear, so she shooed it away and thought nothing more about it. Who would?

But on her flight back home to the UK, Harris, 27, developed headaches and excruciating pain on one side of her face. She also began to hear strange scratching sounds.

The next morning fluid leaked from her ear, soaking her pillow, the UK's Daily Mail reported.

Harris visited her local hospital and initially doctors weren't concerned, presuming she had a minor ear infection.

But further tests were carried out, revealing a hole in her ear canal. Harris and her family begged to be told the cause.

"My Mum said 'Please tell us' and that's when the doctor said 'You've got maggots in your ear'. I burst into tears instantly."

The doctors tried to remove the maggots but it just caused the larvae to retreat further inside Harris's head.

"I was very scared - I wondered if they were in my brain. I thought to myself 'This could be very, very serious'."

A brain scan was then carried out and showed the maggots had chewed a 12mm hole in her ear canal. Her ear was then flooded with olive oil in an attempt to drown them. Two were removed, but a "writhing mass of eight large maggots" remained.

She was sedated and doctors removed them, with a test discovering it was a New World Army Screw Worm Fly that had laid the eggs in her ear.

Luckily, Harris hasn't suffered any long-term consequences. Her ordeal is featured in the new Discovery Channel documentary Bugs, Bites and Parasites.